Variable-speed and reversing mechanism.



PATBNTED NOV. 3, 1903.

7 1 0. PARWBLL. I

VARIABLE SPEED AND REVERSING MECHANISM;

, APPLICATION FILED JULY ZZ, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

mmlilllmllnlmllu I" full, clear, and exact description of the inven-.

UNITED STATES Patented November 3, 1903 PATENT OFFICE.

FAY O. FARWELL, OF DUBUQUE, IOWA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THE ADAMSCOMPANY, OF DUBUQUE, IOWA.

VARIABLE-SPEED AND REVERSING MECHANISM.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 743,156, dated November3, 1903.

Application filed July 22,1903- in Variable-Speed and ReversingMechanism;

and I do hereby declare the following to be a tion, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to Variablespeed and reversing mechanism, and hasfor its object to provide a simple and efficient driving mechanism foruse in connection with motor- 5 vehicles and other machines in which thepower, speed, and direction of rotation of the driven member are subjecttofrequentchange, while the energy and speed of the motor-shaft aremaintained practically constant, the changes in speed and direction inthe driven member being effected by differential gearing connecting saidmember with the motor-shaft and with a speed-varying gearing driven fromsaid motor-shaft.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly insection, of a variable-speed and reversing mechanism embodying myimprovements. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same. Fig. 3 isatransverse section of the casing or frame containing the diiferentialgearing.

Referring to the drawings, a represents a driving-shaft, which obviouslymay be operated from any suitable source ofpower, as a steam-engine orother motor. Rigidly connected to said shaft is a bevel-gear b, abovewhich is a relatively large friction-disk 0, also mounted upon andrevolving with said shaft a. i

Serial No. 166,619- (No model.)

of said shaft and sleeve is a frame or casingj, secured to or formingpart of which is a gear or sprocket it, from which the power isultiimately taken to drive the motor-vehicle or other machine. Withinsaid frame or casing j are mounted planetary gears m and at, ca- 7fpable of rotation upon supporting studs or jpins I, supported in theopposite walls of said frame. Gear n meshes with pinion f, and gear mengages a pinion z upon shaft h, the train of gearing thus providedconstituting a difierential planetary system by means of which the speedand direction of rotation oflframej and power-gear it are determined.

Splined to shaft h and longitudinally adjustable thereon is afriction-wheel g, engag- "ing with and driven from disk 0 and serving toimpart a variable speed of rotation to said shaft h. It is to beunderstood that suitable 7o lever mechanism is provided for shiftingwheel 9 along shaft h and for locking said Wheel in such shiftedposition.

Of course it is to be understood that the relative sizes and proportionsof the various gears employed will depend upon the circumstances andconditions under which the apparatus is to be operated and musttherefore be determined by'the designer. In the particular embodiment ofthe invention illus- 8o trated, which is that employed in motor-vehiclepractice, gear I) is one-half the diameter of its mate (I, friction-diskc is"more than twice the diameter of friction-wheel g, pinion V f istwice the size of n diametrically, and pinion 7; is one-half thediameter of its mating gear m. Assuming the speed of shaft 01. to befive hundred revolutions per minute in the direction indicated by thearrow 1, Fig. 1, gear (1, together with sleeve 6 and pinion f, 0 willhave a speed of two hundred and fifty revolutions per minute. Now,supposing gear-framej to be held and prevented from rotating andfriction-wheel g to be out of contact with disk 0, so that shaft h mayrevolve 9 3 freely, said shaft will be driven by gear-train f n m t inthe same direction as gear (1 at four times the speed of said gear 01,twice the speed of disk 0, or one thousand revolutions per minute.

tact with disk 0 at a point (marked 3 distant from the center of saiddisk equal to the If wheel g be now brought into con- I00 diameter of g,said wheel will revolve shaft h at the same speed that it is normallydriven by gear d and the connecting gear-trainf'n m 1 It, therefore,framej be released, it will remain stationary, no motion will beimparted to driving sprocket-gear 1c, and gears m and n will idle ontheir respective studs. If, however, the wheel g be moved toward thecenter of the disk 0, the point of contact on said disk will move at aslower speed than the normal speed just referred to, and said disk willexert a retarding influence upon wheel 9 and pinion 2', with the resultthat the speed of rotation of gears 'm and n will be reduced. Pinionf,however, continues to revolve at the normal speed and will thereby causethe gear-framej to rotate about shaft h in the same direction as gear d,and planetary gears m and n will continue to rotate about their axisl ata less speed.' As the wheel g is moved nearer the center of disk 0 thelatter imparts a greater retarding force to said pinion t' and gears mand n, and gearframe j revolves faster as a whole, while gears m and nrotate more slowly about their axis until a point ac is reached, wherethe driving diameter of disk 0 is one-half the diameter of wheel g, whensaid wheel, shaft h, and pinion '5 travel at the same speed and in thesame direction as bevel-gear d, sleeve 8, and pinionf. Under theseconditions there will be no movement between any of the gears in thegear-frame or casingj or between shaft h, sleeve e, and casingj, and thewhole mechanism on shaft h will rotate as a unit with said shaft withoutfriction and without noise. In motor-vehicle practice this relationwould preferably be that of highest speed and that most generallyemployed, as slower speeds on level roads may be secured by regulatingthe speed of the engine. It will be understood that if a reversemovement of the sprocket 7c is desired the friction-wheel g is movedfarther from the center of disk 0 than the point marked 3 in which eventsaid wheel 9 and pinion i will rotate at a speed sufficient to reversethe revolution of frame j, and therefore reverse the motion of thedriven machine. This reverse motion may be accomplished at any speeddesired by enlarging the friction disk to allow a wide range of movementbetween point y and the periphery of the disk.

It is to be particularly noted that unlike most friction-drives thefriction member does not impart a driving movement, but, on thecontrary, merely retards the movement or speed of rotation of thefriction-wheel g. As the normal speed of wheel 9 is four times as greatas that of bevel-gear d, it follows that even should there be nofriction between shaft 72. and sleeve 6 and between the various gearsand hearings in the gear-frame the friction-disk would have to impart aretarding effect to the friction-wheel of only one-fourth the powertransmitted by bevel-gears b and at. As a matter of fact, however, thereis considerable friction between the shaft h, its end bearings 0 0, andthe several bearings and gears in the planetary-gear case, and all ofthis friction tends to retard the speed of shaft h and friction-wheel g,and thus assist disk 0 in keeping wheel '9 down to its proper speed toimpart motion to sprocket 70. It will also be noted that an exceedinglyslow and very powerful motion may be transmitted to the sprocket withoutany material intermediate loss of power, which is unlike the usualfriction-drive practice. 7

The apparatus as described is particularly well adapted to a certaintype of horizontallyrotating explosive-engine for motor-vehicles ofwhich I am the inventor; but it is to be understood that the inventionis applicable.

to any class of machines driven from a relatively constantrotating-power sourcei. e., a shaft-in which the speed, power, anddirection of motion of said machine are susceptible of or requirefrequent change or variation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A variable-speedand reversing mechanism, comprising a driving-shaft, a hollow shaftgeared thereto, a second shaft upon which said hollow shaft is mounted,a revoluble frame on said second shaft, a differential planetary geartrain connecting said frame with the hollow shaft and with said secondshaft respectively, a gear from which power is taken connected to saidcasing, and means operated from said driving-shaft for varying the speedof said second shaft, whereby the frame and power-gear may be driven ineither direction and at a variable speed.

2. A variable-speed and reversing mechanism, comprising a driving-shaft,a frictiondisk and a gear mounted on said shaft, a second shaft, anadjustable friction wheel mounted on said second shaftand actuated bysaid friction-disk, a loose sleeve on said second shaft, a gear securedto said sleeve and driven from said first-mentioned gear, a pinion onsaid sleeve, a difierential pinion on said second shaft, a revolubleframe having differential gears meshing with the pinions on the sleeveand the second shaft respectively, and a gear from which power is takenconnected to said revoluble casing, all so proportioned that the speedof the power-gear may be varied or the motion thereof reversed byadjusting the position of said frictionwheel on said second shaft.

3. A variable-speed and reversing mechanism,comprising a driving-shaft,a second shaft at right angles thereto, a bevel-gear and a friction-diskon said drivingshaft, an adj ustable friction Wheel on said second shaftdriven from the disk aforesaid to rotate the second shaft at variablespeeds, a loose sleeve on said second shaft driven by said bevelgear, arevoluble frame from which power is takenon said second shaft anddifferential planetary gearing connecting said frame with,

the second shaft and said sleeve with the frame, whereby the speed anddirection of rotation of said frame are controlled.

4. A variable-speed and reversing mechanism, comprising a driving-shaft,a bevel-gear and a-friction-disk secured to said drivingshaft, a drivenbevel-gear engaging the driving bevel-gear, an adjustable friction-wheelengaging the friction-disk, a planetary difierential gearing connectingthe driven bevelgear and the friction-wheel, a supportingframe for theplanetary gear, and means for taking power from the supporting-frame.

- 5; A variable-speed and reversing mechanism comprising adriving-shaft, a bevel-gear and a friction-disk secured to saiddrivingshaft, a driven bevel-gear engaging the driving bevel-gear, aspur-gearf connected to the driven bevel-gear, an adjustablefrictionwheel engaging the friction-disk and revolving in the samedirection as the driven bevelgear, a spur-pinion '6 connected to thefriction-wheel of smaller diameter than the spurgear f which isconnected to the driven bevelgear, planetary gearing engaging the pinionor casing adapted to revolve around the same axis as gears f and i,planetary gears engaging the gears f and i secured to the powercasing, aretarding element secured to the driven gear 7 means for varying thespeed of the driven gear 11, whereby the speed and direction of rotationof the power-frame are controlled.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

I FAY O. FARWELL.

Witnesses:

F. A. OATEY, EUGENE ADAMS.

